Aurora City Council members will earn more after they retire than on council

While Denver City Council's vote to raise councilmembers' salaries continues to raise questions -- and tempers -- on the Denver mayoral campaign trail, an activist in cash-strapped Aurora has determined that retiring councilmembers there will get an even bigger payday.

As Duane Senn, a member of Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government, recently testified before Aurora City Council, "a councilmember serving three terms, current term limits, will receive a larger retirement check than they are receiving as salary."

Digging into Aurora city code, Senn also found that in addition to their retirement plans, current Aurora councilmembers have a package that includes a $760 monthly car allowance, a $150 monthly expense allowance, a $1,047 health-insurance deal, and a $4,000 annual travel expense -- as well as annual cost of living adjustments.

Compared to CRAG, the Denver activists that Chris Romer and Michael Hancock encounter on the campaign trail seem like a day at the beach.